I don't know if this has a cult following but the game itself involved a giant ant cult (the ants being giant, not the cult itself) that took over some obscure desert town

You just described several seminal years of my childhood. What a great game. The old cinemaware games were all pretty amazing (at the time). If I were more internet-savvy I'd tell you exactly where to download an emulator and all those classic games as freeware.

But I'm not.

Shadow of the colossus is ART. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Lucasart games were amazing, too; especially monkey-island. Insult sword-fighting is a potential thread if ever I heard one...

Ys VI for PlayStation 2 was pretty fun, though not nearly as amazing as the earlier stuff.

You just described several seminal years of my childhood. What a great game. The old cinemaware games were all pretty amazing (at the time). If I were more internet-savvy I'd tell you exactly where to download an emulator and all those classic games as freeware.

Could you ever beat the game? I don't know if it was even possible to get a non-ants-just-took-over-the-globe-because-you-couldn't-figure-out-how-to-use-the-grenades-properly ending. I use Magic Engine for my TG-16 gaming these days, and ROMs seem to be plentiful all over the place.

Agreed completely. One of the few modern video games that really impressed me like I was an early teenager in the late 80's once again. Amazing graphics with gameplay to match, which seems awfully rare these days.

Dynamite, baby. I saw it completed from a great distance. An ant survives, of course. There was, in grand b-movie tradition, a sequel (well... an add on). I just loved the fact that if you didn't have a regular and full eight hours sleep you would doze off at the wheel and have to escape the hospital! You could even steal a wheelchair! Sounds like a thursday in Greys.

Shadow of the Collossus was mesmerizing.I've played adventure games where i just wandered about to explore and see what i could find or sidequests or what not, but I've never played one just to roam and be mesmerized by the scenery.Such as when i entered the southern entrance to the cavern lair of the sandworm collossus and saw the spectacular and mountainous dead tree perched above the mouth of the cave.

Chrono Trigger...wow, i remember that. Loved it. Even though it was visually attractive, i still thought Chrono Cross was disappointing for such a long-awaited follow-up.

My recommendation : Fatal Frame on PS2.brief and old video clip of the game hereI've never been a big fan of horror video games because i don't find them that scary i guess. I mostly hate first-person shooters with two notable exceptions and they're in Second Life. Resident Evil bored me. Silent Hill was neat thanks to the disorienting fog and crackling radio. Fatal Frame is the one and only game that has ever chilled me to the bone. It was a very unique FPS because it relied upon a mystical camera and proximity. Via photograph, the camera absorbs the essence of spirits and demons at a haunted Japanese mansion as you search to discover what happened to your brother (the character in the film and played briefly in black/white at the games beginning). I highly recommend it if you enjoy a good scare.

In August 2002, Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III released the code for the 3DO version of their classic game Star Control II to the open source community.

it has since been ported to most modern computers under the name "The Ur-Quan Masters" as the original name is still trademarked, and I can tell you that at least for me, playing it again (and again and again) has been just as mindboggling and entertaining as it was when I first played it many many years ago. It now also supports netplay and a few other nifty features no one thought possible back in ye olde days of computer gaming.

A game called Snatcher for the Mega-CD from the creator of Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima. It's basically Blade Runner but with a slightly crazier plot. I remember hiring it out and playing the whole thing through in one go. Very hard to get a hold of as it sold bobbins.

But if you want art, drop some cash on Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn. The style is heavily influenced by Moebius, who even worked on the first game. Proper art.

I'm not sure if one would consider NiGHTS: Into Dreams cult or not at this point. It might be just SLIGHTLY more popular. Either way, I'd want to mention that.

Mischief Makers as well. Not groundbreaking, but a decent sidescroller made by Treasure for Nintendo.

Killer 7, of course. The story and cutscenes make the game worthwhile, for me. The gameplay itself isn't amazing, but I found it decent enough.

Here's a question, though. Would Street Fighter III be considered a cult game? Yes, it's Street Fighter, but it wasn't as popular or liked, unless I'm mistaken. Either way, I liked it. Third Strike, anyway.

I skimmed through this a bit and I figured I should emphasize a few mentioned ones.

Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (PS2):Its like a demonic Pokemon where you beat up God and Lucifer at the end. Big world, lots of myths from around the world put into it. Yeah its an RPG and not as character driven as most RPG's but still very good.

Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga (PS2)Its about demonic cannibals. No lie. You turn into demons and eat each other. Character driven story with better voice acting than I'm used to in a video game. For anime fans, the English guy who does Spike from Cowboy Bebop plays the character Gale. That's not the reason to play the game. The first sentence is the reason to play the game.

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 (PS2)This is the game for anime fans. Its half Japanese high school simulator, half go fight demons in a dungeon. J-pop oriented soundtrack with anime cut scenes. Oh and you summon your Persona (demon familiar type creature) by shooting yourself in the head.

Xenogears PS1Great story, incredibly long, not so great gameplay. Some side stories are contrived but what other game has people mutate into the organs of God? Some would call that a spoiler, I call that a you won't know what the hell I'm talking about until waaaaaaaaaaaaay late in the game. The game deals with a lot of religion ideas from Eastern and Western cultures. Play through the entire intro of the game and then try and tell me you're not hooked. The way you know you're through the intro is when Fei gets his emo-baggage.

Chronotrigger SNES/PS1Classic. Great characters, fun story, entertaining gameplay for its time, with lots of reason to replay it again and again. The characters are so well treated in this its hard not to fall in love with them.

Metal Saga PS2What other console RPG offers the intention of absolutely no plot line and enemies that are giant men's legs in panty hose that lead into missile turrets (I believe they're called crotch rockets)?

Katamari Damacy PS2, PSP, WiiRoll the world into a giant ball while listening to a japanese techno renditions of Sinatra and classic jazz hits.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus were already given heavy mention so that is all I will write.